ILRST 3900 - Causal Inference

(crosslisted) INFO 3900, STSCI 3900

Fall. 3 credits. Student Option Grading.

Prerequisite: STSCI 2110 or PSYCH 2500 or SOC 3010 or ECON 3110 or equivalent.

Y. Wang.

Causal claims are essential in both science and policy. Would a new experimental drug improve disease survival? Would a new advertisement cause higher sales? Would a person’s income be higher if they finished college? These questions involve counterfactuals: outcomes that would be realized if a treatment were assigned differently. This course will define counterfactuals mathematically, formalize conceptual assumptions that link empirical evidence to causal conclusions, and engage with statistical methods for estimation. Students will enter the course with knowledge of statistical inference: how to assess if a variable is associated with an outcome. Students will emerge from the course with knowledge of causal inference: how to assess whether an intervention to change that input would lead to a change in the outcome.